While social networking sites started off as a way of keeping in touch, meeting like-minded people and organising your social diary, they are now beginning to be used for other, more productive ends than simply socialising, and as a medium to teach teenagers.

Many social networking sites are introducing initiatives encouraging teenagers to get involved in social issues and environmental causes in their communities.

Bebo has put in place a number of such incentives and Sarah Gavin, global communications director of Bebo, says of its users: "They're getting involved with things like the BeCause award, which focuses on stuff they're doing in their communities or entrepreneurial ideas they might have. They have the opportunities to get involved in these things."

Meanwhile, Ireland's very own Coca Cola Blast Beat involves teenagers setting up their own model companies to teach them business, management and promotional skills and the programme is recognised by the Department of Education as a transition year business project.

The social networking side of the site -- Blastspace -- is used to set up gigs and social events, with the aim of getting teenagers off their computers and into the real world.

Jeff Watson, Blast Beat CEO, has three daughters aged 19, 17 and 16, and says, "My interest in social networking came through my teenagers. I'm not a typical parent in that I'm not in favour of standing in the way of technology. Technology is moving at warp speed. My viewpoint is, it's like fire, it can burn you but it can also cook your food and heat your home.

"I have a positive view of it. On the other hand, I am concerned about privacy. I talk to my daughters about them being sensible and making sure they know that anybody could see their information.

"Every parent should have some discussion about how their children are using them and make them aware this is a highly public forum."

One of Watson's other concerns was his children spending too much time in front of the computer screen.

Like much new technology, checking your comments on social networking sites can become almost addictive.

"Adults get addicted to technology too," says Watson.

"That's why we call Blackberrys 'Crackberrys'. All of these new technologies have addictive elements. You have to get your kids to use them positively and keep them away from dangerous elements or it damages their lives.

"If they're spending more than 10 hours a week on these sites ... excess is the problem, just as I'd be worried if they were excessively watching TV."

One of the reasons Watson became involved with Blastspace was because of what he calls the 'online/offline' aspect, which sees its members meet up and interact on a face-to-face basis at music events on the weekend.

"It's fundamental to what we're doing. There's nothing wrong with the social element of it, but it's all about balance. We can teach them how to use them for business skills too. I saw Flavia [his daughter] grow as a leader and deploy the network for business purposes."

One of the great ironies about the popularity of Blast Beat, says Watson, is the adult presence. "That's what attracted me to it and it's appealing to kids too because the music is cool and then it's appealing to educators as well."

Jeff's 17-year-old daughter, Flavia, uses social networking sites to learn about new bands and keep in touch with friends.

"It's a way to kill many birds with one stone," she says.

"I've been to seven different schools so I've got 600 friends and I live in Italy so these sites are a way to let people know what's going on."

When it comes to safety concerns, she says the sites' monitoring systems tend to work.

"There's a lot of things they'll delete you for, if you've put up a bad picture or something, and you won't be allowed to set up another account. Or you'll be given warnings not to put your personal details up there."

As for adding people she doesn't know, she says, "I think the Dublin schools are all very linked so if they're from a certain school you might add them, but when you get 25-year-old men asking to be your friend you know you're not supposed to add them."

www.blastbeat.org

It's time to stop blaming them for teens' problems

Unless you've been under a rock for at least the last two years, you will have heard complaints about Bebo. The way some tell it, Bebo and other sites such as MySpace and Facebook are sent by the Devil to corrupt the nation's youth, while making the work of bullies and predators 10 times easier.

But the people making those claims aren't teenagers with Bebo accounts -- they're adults, often without any first-hand experience of the sites. And there's the thing. Too many people don't understand sites like Bebo, or their appeal. They just believe scare stories -- and that's no surprise when they don't know what it's really like.

I use Bebo. Every time I access my e-mail, there's a dozen Bebo-related e-mails -- some from people I barely know wanting to become my 'friend'; some from people I see every day, leaving messages on my profile.

And I don't even use Bebo as much as many others: some of my friends log in to Bebo as soon as they get home from school, and are still using it about six hours later, with obligatory pauses to eat or send text messages.

So why do we waste precious time on this site, time that could be spent studying or exercising, instead of sitting in front of our computers? The answer is simple -- Bebo is awesome.

Bebo makes keeping in contact easy. Now I can talk to dozens of friends from all over the country at the same time. People complain that it's anti-social, that electronic communication is replacing human contact, but in fact Bebo improves human contact as well -- it's easy to use Bebo to arrange to meet with friends in real life.

It's not just communication -- people fill their profiles with quizzes, pictures, and facts about themselves. It's nice to be able to declare your love of your favourite band, and it's fun to compare your taste in films with friends.

Bebo doesn't change how people act, it just makes some things more visible. Take bullying. We've all heard about cyber-bullies sending threatening or distressing messages using Bebo. What people never seem to point out is that bullying was just as prevalent before the computer was invented -- and just as personal and hurtful as well. If anything, it's better that it's on the internet: at least it's easier to prove it's happening and punish the bully. Bullying is a problem with teenagers in general, not Bebo in particular.

It's the same with predators -- if people protect themselves properly, their profiles can only be viewed by their friends. Ultimately, people fear what they don't understand. There's a lazy assumption among a lot of people that just because something is popular among young people, it must be bad.

Add to that a suspicion of anything internet-related, and you've got a recipe for all the unfair criticism social networking sites have received. I'm sick of it. It's time to stop blaming Bebo for problems that are unconnected with it, and tackle the problems themselves.

- Hugh Burns